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Several years ago, when I was still a state legislator, I carried a bill to provide tax breaks for volunteer firefighters to offset the costs of their safety equipment. These volunteers, who are on the front lines of wildfire response in most mountain areas, must often buy their own boots, helmet, jackets and other personal protective equipment. A tax credit would allow more volunteers to serve their communities, helping all citizens in the process.

After a 12-hour day spent making bone grafts in October 2009, I was in a small locker room changing out of a pair of sweat-soaked long-sleeve scrubs. The day, exhausting, had been routine until I sat down on a stainless-steel bench to check the single message on my phone left by the man who is now my editor, Doug Bell.
Since no one was around to enforce my self-congratulatory inhibitions, I jumped up and did a little dance, a moment to which I happily confess but remain glad no one else had to witness.

Heartbreak and fear are among the emotions that are smoldering in the wake of the Lower North Fork Fire, which took three lives and 27 homes after a controlled burn exploded into a 4,100-acre maelstrom 6 miles south of Conifer.

More than 23 years ago, my husband and I were house hunting in Evergreen. We spent one day looking at six homes. I walked in the front door of house No. 2, stood there a moment and said quite matter-of-factly, “This is my house.”
After wandering through the entire place, Bob agreed.
I love the warm, rust-colored beetle-kill pine, the large moss-rock fireplace, the cathedral ceiling that allows us to have really tall trees at Christmas. I love my kitchen, my laundry room, my pantry.
I love my house.

Opening Day, 2012!
Friday marks the 20th opening day for our Colorado Rockies. As has been the case every year since 1993, we start the season tied for first place and as close to a world championship as every other team in the major leagues.

Yes, I understand. Peyton Manning is a four-time MVP, a Super Bowl winner, and a sure-fire first-ballot Hall of Famer. He commands a game like nobody else. Even when he’s just at 75 percent, he’s still better than everybody else. And by all accounts, he’s an even better man off the field than on it. It’s great to have him in Denver.
But I’m still going to miss Tim Tebow.

When the going gets tough, the tough get going. No, relax, I’m not going to ply you with Lombardi-isms this week, but when I saw pleas for help from two area nonprofits in the last week, I found myself thinking about the need for us to dig down and support people in need in our community. It made me think of the kind of inspirational speech the coach of the Green Bay Packers would have given to his team while I was growing up.

Every election cycle, candidates come along with slick new ideas for reforming government. But one of the best ideas has been around for centuries: “Govern a great nation,” wrote the Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu, “as you would cook a small fish — do not overdo it.”

Editor’s note: Columnist Greg Romberg’s space this week is being taken by his daughter Rebekah Romberg. Rebekah, a senior at Evergreen High School, recently won the Mountain Rendezvous Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution’s Good Citizen Scholarship for her essay on being a good citizen. Rebekah was given up to two hours to write the following essay based just on her own knowledge and without either prior knowledge of the question or access to any research or resource materials.

“Now I know it’s a national law in America that women are more evolved than men, but if that’s true, how come they are still so impressed by shiny objects?” quips Bill Maher. Oh, ha, ha. Like a blonde joke, I guess?